Razzak leads Jamal to win

Sheikh Jamal DC spinner Abdur Razzak bowls during their Dhaka Premier League match against Prime Doleshwar SC at the BKSP on Thursday.
— New Age photo

Abdur Razzak would be one of the most preferred choices to defend 12 runs in the last over of a domestic game in Bangladesh with his huge experience and Sheikh Jamal Dhanamondi Club were lucky to have him in that situation on Thursday at BKSP.The 34-year old left-arm spinner, now out of national side, showed he is still the man for the job, giving away just seven runs to earn a five-run win for Jamal over Prime Doleshwar in the 38-over match. Chasing a total of 236 off 38 overs Doleshwar, the runners-up of the previous season, reached 223-7 with six balls to go and but Sharifullah could take just a single in the first ball before Habibur Rahman failed to get any run in the next two balls.Habibur could rotate the strike in the fourth ball and Sharifullah, who eventually made 25 off 19, struck a boundary in the penultimate delivery but could fetch just a single in the final ball when six needed for a tie. Doleshwar lost their opener Imtiaz Hossain early for a duck, but Abdul Mazid (25) and Shahriar Nafees added 47 runs to keep the scoreboard rolling.Razzak dismissed Mazid to break the stand and Nafees fell soon for 31 but Indian Puneet Bisht and Marshall Ayub made a formidable 108-run partnership that seemed to keep their chase on track. Razzak, the man of the match with 3-39, foxed Bisht, who made 83 off just 60 balls and was stumped by Nurul Hasan that broke the stand. Enamul Haque and skipper Farhad Reza fell cheaply before Marshall became the third victim of Razzak for 42.Earlier in the day, Jamal opener Fazle Mahmud and one-down Imrul Kayes made a 123-run second wicket stand to give their side a good base after the match was delayed for wet pitch and rescheduled for 42 overs. Rain interrupted the match after 23 minutes from the beginning and the 34-minute rain curtailed four more overs. Eanmul Haque broke the partnership by getting Fazle out for 55 and Arafat Sunny, who took nine wickets in first two matches, soon removed highest scorer Imrul for 67 to reduce Jamal to 136-3 in 23.5 overs.Indian Proshant Chopra got out for 20 but Nurul remained not out on 47 off 41 to take the score past 230-run mark that proved handy later.